The invention concerns a transportable stand with elements which can be assembled from individual parts and be dismounted, which comprise a supporting structure and telescopic parts and cheeks which can be mounted thereon at different angles of inclination to the horizontal, which hold step elements for installation of mounting parts such as seats and rails.
A stand construction of this type has been disclosed by a stand of the company Arena Seating.
In the conventional stand construction, cheeks are mounted to a supporting structure, which are either prolonged or shortened, through telescopic elements, at both ends depending on the inclination of the cheeks to the horizontal. The known cheeks can be used at different inclinations by providing mounting means for step elements on one cheek side and also on the cheek side diametral thereto with different separations from the respective cheek end.
To be able to offer an extended number of seats and more standing space at venues or in halls, transportable stands are known which consist of a plurality of individual parts and require a lot of time for assembly and/or disassembly. The individual stand parts are often large and heavy such that the stands, which are usually to be mounted without the assistance of a crane, are difficult to handle.
It is the underlying purpose of the invention to design stands which can be used according to the local requirements with easy assembly and/or disassembly and to reduce the number of or simplify the different elements required for assembly and/or disassembly.
This object is achieved in accordance with the invention in that the cheeks can be pivoted independently of the angle of inclination to the horizontal about a point of rotation which lies in the region of a first cheek end, and that each individual cheek has a first receiving point for the step elements which either coincides with the point of rotation or is disposed directly next to the point of rotation.
The stand construction comprising the inventive cheeks is advantageous in that step elements to be mounted to the cheeks always have a fixed predetermined first receiving point independent of the angle position of the cheeks to the horizontal where the first or last step element is mounted. Mounting of the inventive stand precludes or greatly reduces erroneous assembly of individual parts required for assembly since the screen for the step elements to be disposed on the cheeks always starts or terminates at the same first receiving point. An inventive cheek must be prolonged or shortened at only one end since the step elements used always terminate in the fixed first receiving point. The first receiving point for the step elements is also always the same, independent of the respective inclined position of a cheek. The first receiving point is not displaced in height and does not carry out a lateral motion when the angle positions of the cheeks vary. The bringing together of the point of rotation of a cheek in a different angle position and the first receiving point of a cheek for a step element further simplifies the overall construction. In total, the inventive construction reduces the number of elements required for assembling a stand and also reduces the number of different concrete designs of the elements.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the point of rotation has the same separation from the first end of the respective cheek irrespective of the length of a cheek. This is advantageous in that all inventive cheeks used in the stand construction are moved, i.e. pivoted, in the same fashion to obtain the predetermined end position of a cheek desired in the assembled state. If the points of rotation are equally fixed to each cheek, the overall stand structure is simplified.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the cheeks, telescopic parts, step parts and mounting parts can be joined to one another or joined to the supporting structure via secured plug and/or catch connections.
This is advantageous in that no loose individual parts are used for assembly of the stand and additional time-consuming screwing or wedging can be omitted. All connecting parts such as cheeks, step elements, telescopic parts, receiving heads, securing means, seat and/or rail connections can be coated with elastic surfaces and/or with elastic formations, profiles to connect the overall construction or individual connections of this construction in a sound-proof, in particular impact-sound-proof, sealed or play-free fashion. This measure eliminates noise which could be produced by individual elements under load.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the plug and/or catch connections are formed such that they are self-locking when connected which guarantees permanent secure assembly of the stand since security and safety checks are not required for a stand built with the inventive elements.
In a further embodiment, receiving heads are formed on the supporting structure of the inventive stand design, which receive the first end of a cheek and/or an end of the telescopic part.
This is advantageous in that no particular connecting elements are required between supporting structure and the cheeks to be mounted thereto. The receiving heads can securely and permanently hold the cheeks at the most different inclinations without additional screwing or bolting or wedging.
The receiving heads are formed to receive cheeks and telescopic parts which can be oriented at least at two different angles of inclination to the horizontal such that the same receiving heads can be used for any stand construction.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the receiving heads, holding a first end of a cheek, hold bolts which laterally project from the cheeks, wherein in the assembled state of the parts at least one bolt is overlapped by the respective receiving head and the bolts additionally project into a cavity which is limited by cheeks produced from a hollow section. One end of a telescopic part projects into this cavity and at least partially surrounds the bolts or rests on the bolts. The telescopic head of the telescopic part may be supported on the inner surface of a cheek for load relief and further means can be provided to connect and secure the connection to be created for forces acting in the horizontal direction.
This measure produces simple, permanent and safe connecting possibilities. The connections can be quickly formed and released with simple movements.
In a further development of the invention, recesses or mounting points are provided on an outer side of the cheek at defined separations into which profiled ends of the step elements engage or the profiled ends are mounted at the mounting points.
This is advantageous in that the step elements can be securely held on the cheeks via the most simple mounting means. Such cheeks can be produced at low cost and are easy to handle.
If the recesses are formed as openings of approximately twice the length of a width of a profiled end, laterally adjoining step elements can be introduced at one cheek. Only one opening is required at one cheek for both step elements. In a preferred embodiment, at least one of the profiled ends of a directly adjoining skeleton step or riser projects into the hollow section of the individual cheek and is immovably held on the cheek in a self-locking fashion or via fixing elements. This is advantageous in that the compelling sequence of the elements to be mounted, prevents having to work over gaps when the skeleton steps and risers are disposed on the cheeks.
The overall stand system is further facilitated if the step elements are formed from risers and skeleton steps, wherein the skeleton steps have the same step depth irrespective of the inclination of a cheek to the horizontal, and if openings are provided at the step edge bordering the risers for receiving the mounting elements. The same skeleton steps are used for any angle position of a cheek, and the step elements have openings for receiving seats or rail constructions. The seats or rails must be inserted into the openings provided for this purpose and are held in the openings in a self-locking fashion. The risers can also be simplified if they can be folded at some height and thus be adjusted to the most different angle positions of the cheeks in a simple way. The foldable section to extend a riser can be hinged to the skeleton step and/or the riser itself. For different angle positions of the cheeks, risers of different heights are provided. If e.g. cheeks of a length of 2.50 m are used for mounting a stand on a supporting structure with 50 cm height grid, and the step elements are mounted to the cheeks in accordance with the invention, skeleton steps of a step depth of 75 cm can be used for different angle positions of 0xc2x0, approximately 11xc2x0 and approximately 22xc2x0 and the risers have a height of 15 cm for an angle position of the cheeks of approximately 11xc2x0 and, for an angle position of the cheeks of approximately 22xc2x0, a height of 30 cm.
If the smallest common multiple of step depth and a grid width of the supporting structure is larger than a grid width but smaller than approximately five times the grid width, all desired angles of inclination of a stand can be produced with one single embodiment of a cheek. In a preferred embodiment, with a uniform cheek length of 2.50 m, platforms are possible after every three grid widths. If cheeks of different lengths are combined, horizontally oriented platforms can be produced in shorter recurrent separations. To provide safe escape paths with the inventive stand construction, horizontally oriented cheek lengths of 75 cm are sufficient when they are connected to inclined cheeks of a length of 2.50 m. If the angle position of an inclined cheek is approximately 11xc2x0, the cheek must be prolonged to approximately 2.55 m through the telescopic part. If the angle position of a cheek is approximately 22xc2x0, the cheek is to be extended to approximately 2.69 m through a telescopic part. The predetermined lengths refer to a horizontally oriented cheek (0xc2x0) of 2.50 m and a height grid of 50 cm or 100 cm at the supporting structure.
Further advantages can be extracted from the description and the enclosed drawing. The features mentioned above and below can be used in accordance with the invention either individually or collectively in any arbitrary combination. The embodiments mentioned are not to be understood as exhaustive enumeration but rather have exemplary character for describing the invention. The step elements can be mounted on any type of cheeks. The described step elements must not necessarily be used with the described cheeks.
If rail posts are mounted to the step elements, these rail posts can be inserted into cavities of the skeleton steps and/or risers and further fixing and/or securing of the rail posts can be effected through engagement into the openings in the cheeks. The skeleton steps and risers can also be of one piece such that a step element is formed from one single element.